Published on 22/01/2025
Hon. Sidronious Okaasai Opolot, Uganda’s State Minister for Energy and Mineral Development, announced a milestone in energy access: 2.2 million consumers have upgraded to prepaid Yaka meters.
This achievement represents an impressive 95.5% of installed meters for Umeme and Uganda Electricity Distributing Company Limited (UEDCL) customers. The upgrade signifies a leap toward efficient energy consumption and improved service delivery across the nation.
The minister who presented the statement during the plenary sitting of Tuesday, 21 January 2025 emphasised the importance of the nationwide upgrade to ensure continued access to electricity following a mandatory global software upgrade of prepayment metres.
He revealed that 100 per cent compliance has been achieved for Kalangala Infrastructure Services (KIS) and West Nile Rural Electrification Company (WENRECO) customers.
He expressed concern that as of 23 November 2024, approximately 112,000 Umeme customers and 17,122 UEDCL customers had not yet upgraded their metres.
The ministry attributed the 4.5 per cent non-compliance rate to challenges such as unoccupied rental properties, upcountry homes, absent homeowners, power theft through metre bypassing, and legal disputes over properties.
“Efforts to ensure full compliance include deploying technicians to manually upgrade accessible metres and intensified communication through SMS notifications, phone calls, and public awareness campaigns. All metres installed from May 2024 are already compliant with the new prepayment system,’ he said.
The upgrade was necessitated by the global Token Identifier (TID) rollover mandated by the Standard Transfer Specification (STS) Association. This industry-standard software update ensures that prepayment metres continue to accept electricity tokens. Without the upgrade, metres would stop functioning, hindering electricity access for affected users.
Hon. Irene Muloni (Bulambuli District) questioned delays in connecting applicants to the electricity grid despite the availability of prepaid metres.
Similarly, Aringa North MP, Hon. Godfrey Onzima expressed frustration over the long-standing lack of actual power connections in some areas where poles and wires had been installed for over six years.
“Voters are frustrated because they see poles but no electricity. Does the ministry’s connection target include these areas?” he asked.
West Budama South MP, Hon. Emmanuel Otala sought clarification on Umeme’s role in the ongoing connections as its concession nears expiry. “Constituents had reported being redirected to UEDCL despite still dealing with Umeme for services,” he wondered.
Kassanda District Woman MP, Hon. Flavia Kalule Nabagabe also highlighted the challenges in the transition from the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to Umeme and now UEDCL, which had disrupted electricity access in Kassanda.
Okaasai assured Parliament that the ministry remains committed to achieving 100 per cent compliance. He noted that technicians have been dispatched to upgrade pending metres, while public education campaigns are ongoing.
The upgrade is part of Uganda’s efforts to modernise its electricity distribution network and maintain compliance with global industry standards.
